Hong Kong targets biomedicine powerhouse status in debut five-year plan

Biomedicine is set to feature in Hong Kong’s first five-year plan, due to be unveiled next week, as the city’s top officials signal closer medical cooperation across the Greater Bay Area.

Lending weight to those ambitions, global pharmaceutical company GSK emphasised its interest in expanding its role in the region’s biotech development on Wednesday, at the fifth Hong Kong International Biotechnology Conference and Exhibition (BIOHK).

Speaking at the event, Hong Kong Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the city’s first five-year plan would align with the national blueprint, which had designated biomedicine as “one of the emerging industries of strategic importance”.

“Biotechnology is ... a national and regional imperative. And Hong Kong is answering that call with conviction and speed,” Lo said.

The city, he noted, served as a “superconnector” and “super value-added” hub for biotech and manufacturing capacity in the Greater Bay Area

– the integrated economic and business hub linking Hong Kong and Macau with cities in Guangdong province.

The region, home to 88 million people, generated a gross domestic product of more than 15 trillion yuan (US$2.23 trillion) in 2025, official data showed.

Hong Kong’s first-ever five-year plan is expected to be unveiled on September 16 at a Legislative Council meeting, followed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s 2026 policy address.